Daisies in the garden
by hutton207
Summary: For Ginny, the idea of her youngest child going to Hogwarts is not something Ginny is finding it easy to deal with. A snapshot of family life in the home of the Potter family. HP/GW & RW/HG Possible Oneshot.


**Daisies in the garden**

**Summary:**

For Ginny, the idea of her youngest child going to Hogwarts is not something Ginny is finding it easy to deal with. Can Ginny overcome her reluctance to allow her little girl to grow up? A snapshot of family life in the home of the Potter family. HP/GW & RW/HG Possible Oneshot.

**Disclaimer: **

The author of this story, has no connections to JK Rowling. The characters are credited to their creator, J K Rowling, however, the plot is uniquely of my own creation. This has been written purely for entertainment purposes, with no money being made from this story. This disclaimer is applicable to this chapter and every subsequent chapter that may appear within this story in the future.

**Author's note:**

Writing Harry Potter is quite new to me! I have written others before, but never published before, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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**Daisies in the garden**

It had been almost two years since Ginny had waved Albus off to Hogwarts for his first year. He was now preparing to go back to school for his third year, James for his fourth and Lily for her first.

Ginny had grown used to only having her young daughter and husband at home during term time. She rather enjoyed the smaller piles of washing she had to do, with less mess around the house to clear up.

One morning in late August as she sat enjoying her breakfast in the early morning sunshine of her tranquil back garden, she found herself quietly contemplating the strange feeling that soon, she would have no children living at home during term time. It would just be her and Harry. Part of her looked forward to those evenings when she could curl up on the sofa with her husband, enjoying the peace and quiet of a child free home, but another part of her, a larger part, felt incredibly emotional and upset that soon all three of her children, her babies, would be spending the majority of their year at school.

It was in her silent contemplation that she began to realise how much her children were growing up, how much they had already grown. She didn't notice the tears that began to well in her eyes, gathering speed as they over spilled and flowed down her cheeks. It was slowly beginning to dawn on her that she had never really thought this day would come. The day when she would be waving all of her children off to a school she had once dwelled in herself. A place where she had experienced some of the worst, but also some of the best moments of her life.

"Are you crying mummy?" Lily asked, appearing beside her mother in the garden, jolting Ginny from her thoughts. She had a half finished daisy chain in her hands. She wrapped her arms around her Mother's neck, hugging her tightly. "Why are you sad?"

Ginny wiped her eyes before smiling at her daughter. "They're happy tears" she said, not wanting to upset her daughter. "I was remembering when you took your first steps. It was in this very garden. I think you were too young to remember". She smiled again at her daughter, pulling her down onto her lap.

Lily's worried eyes looked up at Ginny's. Ginny brushed the hair from her daughter's face, kissing her forehead. Lily shook her head. "I don't remember. Was I cute?"

"Of course! And you still are!" Ginny laughed slightly, pulling Lily towards her. "You used to love sitting on my lap in the garden when you were small"

"I know. We used to watch the sun rise in the mornings before the boys got up didn't we mummy" Lily smiled, remembering the memory fondly.

Ginny nodded, noticing the daisy chain in her daughter's hands. "Are you making a daisy chain?" she asked, looking at the delicate flowers all strewn together so neatly.

"It's for you. Daddy said he can put a charm on it so the daisies won't die. But it's not finished yet". She jumped off her mother's lap. "I want to finish it before Rose and Hugo come over. They are still coming aren't they?"

"Just before lunch I think" Ginny smiled, watching her daughter sit happily in the grass. She gathered up her breakfast dishes from the garden table and hurried inside, feeling more tears well in her eyes.

The feeling that she didn't want to let Lily go to Hogwarts seemed to overwhelm all of her thoughts that morning. Preparing the lunch that she had invited Ron and Hermione over to enjoy with their children and her family seemed to be a much harder task that usual. She couldn't stop worrying that Lily was far too young to be going to Hogwarts, it seemed like only yesterday she was uttering her first words.

---

With what seemed like minutes to Ginny, but had actually been a few hours, she heard chattering voices coming from the fire place in a small room off the hallway.

Harry had already greeted Hermione and Ron and their children when Ginny entered the room. She smiled across at them, hugging Rose and Hugo who bounded off with James, Albus and Lily. She heard the words "Quidditch" and "teams" being uttered between then as they ran excitedly from the room.

Hermione glanced at Ginny. Ginny looked like she may have been crying, but the sunlight hitting Ginny's face made it difficult to be sure. She glanced back at Harry, who was showing none of the usual signs he did after he and Ginny had rowed.

"Hey Gin" Ron greeted, kissing her cheek. No sooner had he done so, he was ushered from the room by Harry, who had wanted to show him the souvenir he had picked up for him from their holiday to Florida. Glancing at Ginny again, Hermione realised Ginny didn't look angry, she looked sad. Hermione's thoughts were broken by a cheerier voice than she had expected to hear.

"Hi Hermione" Ginny smiled as she hugged the woman that had over the years, grown to become not only her sister in law, but her best friend too. "Did you have a good holiday?"

"Lovely thank-you. Rose and Hugo got on surprisingly well. He was grilling her with his questions about Hogwarts most of the holiday" Hermione smiled. The whole family, Ginny had observed, were brilliantly tanned. Even Ron with his pale skin was now looking considerably darker.

"How was Florida?"

"Fantastic" Ginny smiled. "We practically had to drag Lily out of the Magic Kingdom at Disney, but it was really good. I think Harry enjoyed the rides as much as the kids! Not that he'd admit to it". She grinned widely, before pausing. "It was very relaxing".

"I'm glad" smiled Hermione as she followed Ginny towards the kitchen. Through the large windows in the kitchen, the children could be seen arranging themselves into the positions for what Hermione guessed was going to be a game of Quidditch. She watched Lily zoom into the air on her father's old Firebolt, positioning herself into the role of chaser.

"I bet she'll make the Quidditch team" Hermione smiled, watching the children laughing happily in the Orchard at the end of the garden.

"Who will?" Ginny asked, turning away from the pan she was directing with her wand.

"Lily! She's already fantastic on that broom" Hermione commented. Ginny glanced out of the window, forcing a smile. It faded much quicker than any real smile Hermione had seen on Ginny's face. "You don't want her to be on the Quidditch team?" Hermione queried.

"She can be on the Quidditch team if she likes" Ginny responded, slamming the jug onto the table much harder than she had intended. She flicked her wand, the spillage immediately disappearing.

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming" Hermione said, sitting down at the table. Ginny sighed, sitting down beside her. She swallowed hard, willing the tears welling in her eyes not to fall.

"She's too young" she whispered, the tears she had wanted to hold back now flowing freely down her cheeks.

"For Quidditch?" Hermione questioned, feeling slightly confused. "Most first years don't make it on to the team anyway. Harry was an exception to the rule"

Ginny shook her head, adding to Hermione's confusion. "I just…" she hesitated. "You're going to think this is ridiculous" Ginny warned Hermione.

"Of course I won't" Hermione comforted.

Ginny let out a long sigh. "I don't feel happy with Lily going to Hogwarts". The tears were flowing faster now, Ginny wiping them away viciously with the tissue Hermione had placed in her hand.

Hermione's eyes were wide as she took in Ginny's words. "Do you mean you've got a bad feeling about her going?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. That's what's making it worse. It's not because I'm worried something will happen to her. It's just… well she's my baby. Once she's gone, that's it. I know it's selfish and Christmas comes around faster each year but…"

"I understand" Hermione replied, nodding at Ginny. "I've feeling slightly apprehensive myself about the thought of both Rose and Hugo being at Hogwarts. The house just won't be the same"

"And she's going to have to grow up so fast" Ginny added, more tears welling in her eyes. "She's going to be in a dormitory with girls she's never even met, she's not going to have anyone to help her with her school work, she'll have to get herself up for lessons, everything. I'm not going to see her for almost four months".

Hermione pulled Ginny into a hug, rubbing her back gently. "Okay" she began "Let's look at this rationally". Ginny nodded, getting up to collect another tissue before sitting back down beside Hermione. "Yes she will be in a dormitory with girls she doesn't know. But she'll get to know them in no time. And yes she'll have school work, but she'll be fine. And the teachers are there to help if she struggles with her work. Plus, she'll have Rose, Hugo and her two big brothers. She'll be fine Ginny". Ginny nodded, smiling slightly.

"I guess you're right" she stammered out, stemming the flow of tears with her tissue. "She just seems so much younger than James or Al did at her age. What if she can't cope? What if she hates it?"

"You can write to her. Everyday if you want to! But she's going to love it Gin. Look at her out on that broom" The women glanced to their children playing outside. "She's going to excel at Hogwarts, in every way!"

Ginny nodded, blowing her nose. "Gosh Hermione. I'm so selfish. All I've been thinking about is me and how I'm going to feel when really I should be thinking about Lily"

"It's natural for a mother to worry" soothed Hermione. "And I bet you have been thinking of Lily. Has she got all her things ready for Hogwarts?".

Ginny nodded. "I insisted we got everything before we went to Florida. You know how busy Diagon Alley gets at the end of August. I thought it was best we went early so we knew they had everything"

"You see" Hermione exclaimed. "If you were being selfish, there's no way you'd have got all her Hogwarts things ready. You'd have waited till the last minute in the hope things would have sold out"

"I couldn't have done that" Ginny replied, looking shocked at the very idea.

"There you are then" Hermione smiled.

"I guess…well I guess she'll be fine once she's there won't she" Ginny said, looking to Hermione for reassurance as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"Of course she will. And she's going to have her two big brothers looking after her. Not to mention Rose and Hugo".

"Thank-you" Ginny smiled, hugging Hermione.

"What for?"

"For being my best friend. For not laughing at me. For making me feel better"

"Anytime" smiled Hermione, turning to the kitchen door as Ron and harry entered.

"Harry was just telling me Lily is taking a cat to Hogwarts. I thought she'd have wanted an Owl like her brothers" Ron said, surprised.

"So did we" Harry commented, walking over to his wife and putting his arm around her waist. "We went looking for an owl didn't we?" He said, turning to Ginny.

She nodded. "You know what Lily's like! As soon as she set eyes on the kittens, she decided an owl wouldn't make such a good pet to take to Hogwarts. She chose a tiny little white kitten with ginger and black splodges. Carries the poor thing round like a baby!" she laughed slightly.

"Not that little crunchy minds. He never stops purring" Harry said. "He sleeps snuggled up on her bed. Nearly sat on him last night. He's tiny!"

"Crunchy?" Ron asked

"Don't ask" laughed Harry, shaking his head.. "Something to do with cat biscuits. But it's hers so we let her choose the name"

"I quite like Crunchy myself. Seems fitting. The last cat anyone in this family took to Hogwarts was my lovely Crookshanks. It's nice his name begins with C" Hermione added.

Ron rolled his eyes slightly at Harry from where he stood behind Hermione. Even after he had discovered that his rat was in fact Peter Pettigrew, he never did take a shine to Crookshanks.

"Are we going to meet on the platform like last year?" Ron asked, opening the back door to call the children in for the lunch that Ginny was transferring to the table.

Harry nodded. "Shall we say 10.40am? Gives us enough time to get everything onto the train"

The adults in the room nodded, before the children trouped in.

"Come and see him quickly" Lily said, grabbing Hugo's hand and pulling him towards the hall. "I'm just showing Hugo Crunchy" she called behind her as Hugo followed her up the stairs. Minutes later, Lily emerged back in the kitchen, with what looked like a small bundle of fluff snuggled into her arms. He was purring loudly, stretching himself out as Hugo tickled his tummy.

"Do you want a cuddle?" Lily asked, offering the small kitten to Rose. She nodded as Lily passed her the tiny kitten. It snuggled into Rose's lap as she stroked his head delicately.

"You'll be able to have lots of cuddles with him in the common room when we get to Hogwarts" Lily beamed, sitting down beside Rose.

"You don't know whether you're going to be a Gryffindor yet!" James exclaimed, sitting opposite her beside his father.

Lily nodded. "Yes I do! I'm going to do what daddy told me. I'm going to ask the hat!"

"Ask the hat? The sorting hat?" Hugo questioned.

Lily nodded. "Just tell it which house you want to go in and it will put you there. Right daddy?"

Harry nodded, smiling at his daughter. "Worked for me".

"And it's going to work for me as well. You too Hugo. We're all going to be Gryffindors together!"

Hugo smiled. "I hope we are. I don't want to be on my own".

Lily smiled, echoing the words her aunt had said to her mother not an hour earlier. "It's all to be fine Hugo. Hogwarts is the best place ever. Think of the adventures we can have!"

Ginny smiled at her daughter, who was still chattering excitedly to her cousin. Taking her daughter's words as a confirmation that Lily was more than ready to go to Hogwarts, Ginny flicked her wand, food appearing on the plates of those that she treasured most dearly in her life. Her eyes met Harry's and she beamed at him, her eyes sparkling. A genuine, happy smile that reached her eyes, as for the first time all summer, a feeling of content ran through her, letting her know that the Potter's were going to be just fine.

It was all going to work out just as deep down; she'd known it always would.

END

**Author's note: **

**I haven't written fan fiction for so long now; I felt I wanted to post something! This is the first Harry Potter fan fiction I have ever published, so I hope you liked it!**

**I'm not sure whether or not this will stay as a one shot, or develop into something more. Please review and let me know what you thought, would love to hear your comments.**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Hutton207 **


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